Who is Aafia Siddiqui? Texas synagogue hostage-taker allegedly sought release of ‘Lady Al Qaeda’

The antheral who took hostages astatine a Dallas-area synagogue Saturday nighttime was seemingly motivated by his anger implicit the U.S. imprisonment of Aafia Siddiqui, 49, a Pakistani pistillate being held successful national situation successful Fort Worth for trying to termination American soldiers.

That’s according to a instrumentality enforcement authoritative speaking nether information of anonymity to sermon the ongoing investigation, who besides told The Washington Post that aboriginal successful the standoff, the hostage-taker said helium wanted a rabbi successful New York to cognize that helium was taking the hostages due to the fact that helium wanted Siddiqui freed.

The standoff ended Saturday nighttime with instrumentality enforcement freeing the hostages and the fishy dead.

While precise small is publically known astir the fishy — including his individuality oregon what moved him to seizure 4 people, including the rabbi, astatine Congregation Beth Israel successful Colleyville, Texas, with a weapon and explosives during Saturday services — Siddiqui has agelong been a cause celebre successful Islamist militant circles, with predominant demands for her release.

Saturday’s events astatine the Texas synagogue person reignited involvement successful the communicative of the pistillate wide known arsenic “Lady al-Qaeda.” At its halfway is an enigmatic and highly educated parent who seemingly formed disconnected a comfortable, palmy nonrecreational beingness successful pursuit of coercion — and would beryllium called, at 1 time, the “most wanted pistillate successful the world.”

Siddiqui was convicted connected coercion charges successful 2010 and sentenced to 86 years successful situation aft opening occurrence connected Americans. She is slated for release successful 2082.

“We are talking astir a precise unsocial figure,” says Boaz Ganor, enforcement Director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, a nonprofit deliberation vessel based successful Israel. “What we cognize is that this is simply a precise intelligent terrorist.”

Her case, successful part, is truthful compelling due to the fact that she is “not the prototype of a … regular terrorist.” While elements from Islamist groups privation her release, others “might deliberation that what happened [to her] is injustice and they privation to escaped her for humanitarian reasons.”

Siddiqui, who earned a bachelor’s grade successful biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a PhD successful neuroscience from Brandeis University, was joined with 3 children and surviving successful the Boston country during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. After 9/11, she near her hubby and returned to Pakistan, fearing that if she stayed successful the United States, her children would beryllium forcibly taken from her and converted to Christianity, according to a intelligence study prepared for her trial.

The study said that her thoughts were “replete with galore conspiratorial ideas” and that “she besides related a fig of beliefs that appeared delusional.”

Siddiqui disappeared aft her instrumentality to Pakistan. She was captured successful Afghanistan successful July 2008, erstwhile she was recovered with a flash thrust containing documents connected chemic and biologic weapons, according to U.S. prosecutors. Afghan authorities captured her carrying handwritten notes detailing a “mass casualty attack” connected respective New York City spots. When FBI agents and U.S. subject unit were interviewing her successful Afghanistan, she grabbed a firearm and opened occurrence connected the Americans earlier she was herself shot.

She was flown to the United States and convicted successful national tribunal successful New York of attempted execution for the attack.

U.S. instrumentality enforcement agencies person alleged that Siddiqui has ties to al-Qaeda. In 2003, the FBI issued a planetary alert for her and her ex-husband, Amjad Khan. In 2003, according to U.S. instrumentality enforcement, Siddiqui joined Ammar al-Baluchi, the nephew of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the Guantanamo detainee who has professed to being a mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

In 2004, the FBI added her to its database of the 7 astir wanted al-Qaeda fugitives, and officials from the bureau and the Justice Department described her arsenic an al-Qaeda "operative and facilitator” during a quality conference, according to the Associated Press.

Various extremist groups person tried to negotiate for her release implicit the years, including al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda successful the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State.

Pakistani officials person expressed support for her release. In November 2018, the Pakistani Senate passed a resolution demanding that Siddiqui beryllium repatriated to Pakistan, naming her “the girl of the Nation.” Prime Minister Imran Khan pledged successful a 2018 predetermination manifesto that his governmental enactment would “make champion efforts to bring prisoners similar Dr. Afia Siddiqui and others backmost to Pakistan.”

In an article published successful 2020 by the Atlantic Council deliberation tank, Dawood Ghazanavi, an lawyer successful Pakistan and writer of the publication “Aafia Unheard: Uncovering the Personal and Legal Mysteries Surrounding FBI’s Most Wanted Woman,” wrote that “many Pakistanis equate the injustices done to her arsenic an injustice against Pakistan.”

Counterterrorism experts pass that Saturday’s events astatine the synagogue successful Texas could animate copycats.

Steven Stalinsky, enforcement manager of the Middle East Media Research Institute, said Saturday’s incidental is “energizing jihadis and violent groups some online and connected the crushed who haven’t had overmuch to beryllium excited astir since the Taliban’s instrumentality to power.”

Other imaginable attackers motivated by antisemitism “might beryllium intrigued by that and mightiness travel with a lone-wolf attack” connected places of worship, and peculiarly connected synagogues, Ganor said. “Definitely, I would … tighten the information astir synagogues and beatified places successful the coming week oregon two,” helium said.

In effect to quality of the hostage situation, Jewish communities successful respective cities heightened their security. Police successful Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Calif., and Dallas said they accrued patrols astir their section synagogues.

President Biden said successful a connection precocious Saturday that “there is much we volition larn successful the days up astir the motivations of the hostage taker. But fto maine beryllium wide to anyone who intends to dispersed hatred — we volition basal against anti-Semitism and against the emergence of extremism successful this country.”

In the Facebook unrecorded watercourse of the Shabbat service, which has since been taken down, a antheral seemed to beryllium speaking connected the telephone off-camera, sometimes shouting, sounding progressively stressed. He said helium wanted to talk with his “sister,” seemingly referring to Siddiqui with an look of solidarity. The hostage-taker was not the member of Siddiqui, according to 2 radical acquainted with the family.

Siddiqui’s attorney, Marwa Elbially, earlier the standoff ended said the fishy was not a subordinate of her family, adding that they bash not cognize of the individual’s individuality oregon o.k. of his actions. “They condemn immoderate benignant of unit done successful [Siddiqui’s] name,” Elbially said.

As precocious arsenic September, British extremist preacher Anjem Choudary announced a run calling for Siddiqui’s release. “The work upon america is to either escaped her physically oregon to ransom her oregon to speech her,” said Choudary connected his Telegram channel. “However, until specified clip arsenic we tin fulfil 1 these obligations the minimum that we tin bash is to usage each that we person to rise consciousness astir her case, to support her sanction successful the hearts and successful the minds of Muslims.”

On Jan. 13, a pro-Islamic State outlet released a video successful which a narrator denounced what helium described arsenic the attacks and torture by “the enemies of Allah” against pistillate Muslim prisoners. A poster mentioning Siddiqui is disposable successful the inheritance of the video. In 2014, the Islamic State offered to merchandise American hostage Kayla Mueller successful speech for Siddiqui and $6.6 million.